LONDON: A waxwork of Adolf Hitler has
sparked a row, with Madame Tussauds forced to isolate the model of the 'Fuehrer'
at a new Berlin museum. (
Watch
)
Jewish groups fear that the waxwork, which will go on display
alongside celebrities, pop stars, world statesmen and sporting heroes when the
museum opens tomorrow, will glorify Hitler's reign.
Due to protests,
the model of 'Fuehrer' with his arm outstretched on a large wooden table with a
map, will be on display behind glass, which means visitors will be unable to
have their pictures taken with it.
Madame Tussauds, however, felt
that Hitler deserved a place in the museum due to his impact on German and world
history.
Meike Schulze of the company promoting the Madame Tussauds
in Berlin defended the decision to put the dictator on display, saying there was
demand for his inclusion.
"Of course the figure will arouse interest
but we hope people will realise he is part of an exhibition with a range of
attractions," Schulze was quoted as saying by the
Mail
online on Friday.
About 25 workers spent about four months on the wax work, using more
than 2,000 pictures and pieces of archive material and also guided by a model of
the 'Fuehrer' in the London branch of Madame Tussauds where he is standing
upright.
Under German law, the display of Nazi regalia is illegal.
The wax Hitler is the latest in a gradual breaking down of taboos about him in
Germany more than six decades after the end of World War II.
Hitler
is already featured alongside US President George W. Bush and former Iraqi
dictator Saddam Hussein in the London museum's 'world leader' section.